Let's plant trees together in the spring season!
March 12 is the legal "Arbor Day" in my country, and in my mind, the early spring festival of each year is a good time for afforestation, and it is also my favorite "spring sport".
In 1978, when I first stepped into the campus of China Normal University on Zhongshan North Road with that "belated admission letter" in my arms, I was attracted by the flat, spacious and leafy passage at first sight. Looking at the stout plane trees on both sides, I couldn't help but marvel in my heart, these plane trees are like a barrier to protect students, and contain the soul of teaching and educating people.
Thirty years later, our Chinese students returned to school to participate in the commemorative activities. The plane trees on both sides of the passage are becoming more vigorous and lush, making us look still young and energetic. Although we didn't have time to visit the new campus in Minhang that day, we believe that because of this vigorous and rejuvenating spiritual paving and inheritance, our alma mater, ECNU, will continue to cultivate new generations of educational talents.
I also love ginkgo biloba. My hometown is in the ancient town of Luodian in the suburbs of Shanghai, when I was still farming in the countryside, the production team allocated my family's "self-reserved land", which is next to two century-old ginkgo trees on the north side of the town. Needless to say, the hard work of getting up early and working late at night was needless to say, but what I didn't expect was that with the changes of the ancient town, all the farmland here was laid out as new houses and roads, and only these two ancient trees were preserved unscathed, and the newly built Baoshan Temple was almost a stone's throw away, becoming a guiding sign of the ancient town. Over the years, whenever tourists and pilgrims from other towns want to turn into the ancient town from Hutai Road and get lost for a while, the people in the town will point to the two ginkgo trees: "Well, you just need to turn east from that intersection, you can go to the temple, and then walk into the streets and alleys of the ancient town." The guests did so, and the confusion was really dispelled, and sometimes as soon as they turned the corner, they heard the sound of the bell from the temple, which was more pleasing to the ear and calm.
Today, I live in Baoshan City, and all kinds of street trees are planted on both sides of the road outside the city, such as sycamores, willows, camphor, magnolias, elms, cherry blossoms, ......Among them, the cherry blossoms are even more magnificent and colorful in Gucun Park, and during the cherry blossom festival held in the park every year, tourists are like clouds, and they all linger.
Due to the nature of my profession, I have been involved in some of these tree planting activities many times over the years. Nowadays, although I am retired and no longer participate in those large-scale "Arbor Day" activities, I still like this kind of thing, whenever a few early warblers compete for warm trees, and whose new swallows peck the spring mud, I often go back to my hometown, or go to the homes of my friends and students who still live in the countryside for vacation, and plant trees and flowers with them at the edge of the village house, pond and river. If I don't have the opportunity, I will bring a few flowers and trees such as the triangular plum, plant them in pots at home, put them on the balcony windowsill, and play with them to grow up quickly, decorate my home, and add a touch of color to the community home. At this time, I seemed to be back to my youthful days, full of vitality, and repeatedly came up with an idea - come, friends, let's plant trees together in the spring season! (Zhao Rongfa).